Extended Band Question

[wxman76]

This weekend at 1pm here in Fayetteville, Arkansas I was able to catch clearly AM 1700 KBGG out of Des Moines. KBGG is a 10000 watt daytime station nearly 400 miles away and was coming in surprisingly clear. At times, it was coming in clearer than more powerful lower dial stations that were half the distance. For example, most of the midday it was coming in better than WIBW Topeka, KCSP KCMO and WHB Kansas City and KMOX St. Louis. Snow was on the ground over much of the Central US and this probably carried the signal even further.

I know that daytime signals go out further this time of the year with the low sun angle. But I guess my question was, is the extended band more sensitive to the winter solstice than the rest of the AM band?

Anyone else have any long distance daytime catches on the X band this time of the year?

 

[rbrucecarter5]

This weekend at 1pm here in Fayetteville, Arkansas I was able to catch clearly AM 1700 KBGG out of Des Moines. KBGG is a 10000 watt daytime station nearly 400 miles away and was coming in surprisingly clear. At times, it was coming in clearer than more powerful lower dial stations that were half the distance. For example, most of the midday it was coming in better than WIBW Topeka, KCSP KCMO and WHB Kansas City and KMOX St. Louis. Snow was on the ground over much of the Central US and this probably carried the signal even further.

I know that daytime signals go out further this time of the year with the low sun angle. But I guess my question was, is the extended band more sensitive to the winter solstice than the rest of the AM band?

Anyone else have any long distance daytime catches on the X band this time of the year?

X-band is more like shortwave than it is AM - now that Houston has no oldies station, KVNS Brownsville at about 300 miles away has become a popular station for disenfranchised listeners. I don't know how it will do in the summer but it is almost like a local at times. There is occasional severe interference from KKLF Sherman, though - but a partial water path favors KVNS.

 

[vibe]

Agree w/ b.c. At approx 4PM or 1/2 hr before local sunset, I got the radio disney affil (1650) out of the Norfolk VA which is at least 450 mi. I've also gotten them in Englewood FL in the mid-late afternoon as well. Signal was decent and quite listenable. Yet a much closer radio disney afflilate on 1560 in NYC, approx 150 m was much weaker. (i was merely playing with the radio, not listening to that stuff!)
I've experienced 1000+ mi reception on the x banders at least 2-3 hrs before local sunset.
On a separate note, I got a sports station on 1690 the other day(at noon) which I couldn't ID before it faded out. Those x banders, under certain daytime conditions like we have now REALLY get out.

 

[crainbebo]

Here's an X-band scan today on my Grundig G5 about 3:30PM (1 hour before sunset) on 12/29/2009. I'm using the internal antenna, with lots of concentration.

1610: WPKL360 Woodinville, WA (TIS) (5 mi)
1620: KYIZ Renton, WA (Urban Hip-Hop) (21 mi)
1630: threshold, in and out, no IDs or voice
1640: KDZR Portland, OR (Radio Disney) (166 mi) with another station, probably KDIA Vallejo, CA (Religious) (669 mi)
1650: threshold/IBOC
1660: KXOL Brigham City, UT (Regional Mexican) (660 mi)
1670: KNRO Redding, CA (Sports) (449 mi)
1680: KNTS Seattle, WA (Spanish) (14 mi) with another station VERY faintly in the background, maybe KGED Fresno, CA (Spanish Religious) (773 mi)
1690: KFSG Roseville, CA (World Ethnic) (626 mi)
1700: nothing
1710: Spanish pirate (about 3.5 miles)

So, in this bandscan, I got 3 stations 600 miles or more, **1 HOUR BEFORE SUNSET!!** I've heard KTIQ Merced, CA (not on this bandscan) on 1660, in the daytime in November at 2PM, at over 700 miles. 729, to be exact, and that means (sort of, it could have been KXOL) beat the record of the 70s ford radio picking up KWMT 540 Ft. Dodge, IA in San Antonio, at 685 miles. (That's you JD!!)

-crainbebo

-crainbebo

 

[stormy01]

Agree w/ b.c. At approx 4PM or 1/2 hr before local sunset, I got the radio disney affil (1650) out of the Norfolk VA which is at least 450 mi. I've also gotten them in Englewood FL in the mid-late afternoon as well. Signal was decent and quite listenable. Yet a much closer radio disney afflilate on 1560 in NYC, approx 150 m was much weaker.

Not sure where you are located, but WQEW New York's main lobe is 0° Daytime, and 20° Nighttime. Check out the field strength for the azimuth headed your direction:
http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/amq?list=0&hpat=2&facid=29024 WQEW may be 50kW, but with respect to your location, they may be sending a fraction of that 50kW your way. So it should be no surprise that the X-band station, though omnidirectional, may be sending more power your way than WQEW was. It's not to say that atmospheric conditions and the ionosphere can do some amazing things with far less than 50kW!

 

[jd]

I've heard KTIQ Merced, CA (not on this bandscan) on 1660, in the daytime in November at 2PM, at over 700 miles. 729, to be exact, and that means (sort of, it could have been KXOL) beat the record of the 70s ford radio picking up KWMT 540 Ft. Dodge, IA in San Antonio, at 685 miles. (That's you JD!!)

Thanks for the shout out! But it was in the Las Colinas area of Irving TX, a little northwest of Dallas. Oh, and the radio was new at the time and KWMT was still running 1kW.

 

[purpledevil]

This weekend at 1pm here in Fayetteville, Arkansas I was able to catch clearly AM 1700 KBGG out of Des Moines. KBGG is a 10000 watt daytime station nearly 400 miles away and was coming in surprisingly clear. At times, it was coming in clearer than more powerful lower dial stations that were half the distance. For example, most of the midday it was coming in better than WIBW Topeka, KCSP KCMO and WHB Kansas City and KMOX St. Louis. Snow was on the ground over much of the Central US and this probably carried the signal even further.

I know that daytime signals go out further this time of the year with the low sun angle. But I guess my question was, is the extended band more sensitive to the winter solstice than the rest of the AM band?

Anyone else have any long distance daytime catches on the X band this time of the year?

X-band is more like shortwave than it is AM - now that Houston has no oldies station, KVNS Brownsville at about 300 miles away has become a popular station for disenfranchised listeners. I don't know how it will do in the summer but it is almost like a local at times. There is occasional severe interference from KKLF Sherman, though - but a partial water path favors KVNS.

He is absolutely right. KVNS is a monster here in Houston at night, and especially in the wee hours of the morning. Another easy X-Band catch here is KRZI/Waco. Day or night, this one is readily available from southwest of Houston, clear up to Dallas with minimal interference.

 

[jd]

And unfortunately for KKLF 1700 KVNS is a monster there, too. The two of them fight it out all around the Dallas-Fort Worth area except in the immediate area of the KKLF nighttime tower a little southeast of McKinney.